by Jurgen Klopp admitted Hollywood producers are unlikely to be fighting for the rights to the Reds’ lackluster season, but the Liverpool boss remained optimistic about the unwritten end to his side’s campaign.
A goalless draw against 12th-placed Crystal Palace was unlikely to be the emphatic statement Klopp’s side would have hoped for after their spectacular failure in the 5-2 Champions League defeat by Real Madrid earlier in the week.
Still, the manager felt the need to remind the naysayers, including those in his own dressing room, that his side walked away with a point at Selhurst Park, saying: ‘I see it in your eyes and in the players’ eyes too. It looks like we lost the game. We are not.
“We’ve indulged in a lot of things, but we can’t suffer because of our own history, that would really be a joke.
“This isn’t going to be the season where everyone in the history books says, ‘Let’s watch this season over and over again.’ There won’t be any big movies about it or anything, but we still have to do it.
“We’ll show that it’s not always like this: ‘Oh, we won here, everything’s great, now we’ve lost a point, it’s all nonsense’. We have to keep going. Take the things and leave. Take the things and leave. And we will.
“So nothing really changed tonight. You can see two possibilities. We didn’t win, that sounds very negative. We’ve got a point more than before, I think that sounds pretty positive. So you can choose.”
Both sides had chances to gain an advantage up until half-time.
The Reds’ chance came when Joel Matip sent an Andrew Robertson free-kick in the direction of Diogo Jota, whose header from six meters grazed the outside of the left post.
Jean-Philippe Mateta almost gave Palace the lead but the bar rattled, the woodwork also denied Mohamed Salah shortly after the restart.
Both Joe Gomez and Darwin Nunez were ruled out ahead of Saturday’s competition with injuries, the latter suffering a blow after the Real Madrid game that aggravated his shoulder injury and remained “(unable) to move that arm at all,” according to Klopp. .
He’s being re-evaluated while Gomez missed the game due to a muscle problem.
Palace are still looking for their first win of 2023 after drawing five times since the start of the new year, showing their inability to recreate chances.
Eagles coach Patrick Vieira remained confident his side could score goals even without top scorer Wilfried Zaha, who was still recovering from a hamstring injury and sat out Saturday.
He said: “I think it’s all about confidence. I work with them every day and see the quality they have. Everyone can finish. They can all score goals and it’s just me training so we can build that confidence.
“I have no doubt about the quality they have to take advantage of these opportunities.”
